Denmark’s Steven Junk was close by of land and his dream of swimming throughout the Irish Sea in 2019 when catastrophe struck.
Key factors:
- Steven Junk is near finishing the Ocean Seven
- The 62-year-old plans to swim between Northern Eire and Scotland in August
- He suffered a collapsed lung throughout his final try after by accident ingesting a number of jellyfish
The crossing would have been the remaining leg of the Ocean Seven, a gruelling assortment of ocean swims in a number of the world’s most treacherous waters.
“I used to be inside two kilometres of Scotland, I bumped into an entire lot of jellyfish,” Dr Junk stated.
He stated he inhaled a few of them.
“I ended up with a collapsed lung, and I began sinking and I needed to be retrieved from the underside,” he stated.
The jellyfish have been lion’s mane, which might have tentacles as much as 10 metres lengthy.
It was a tricky finish to years of labor to finish the seven ocean swims.
“After the final time, which was 4 years in the past, I believed ‘no, that is it’,” Dr Junk stated.
“I felt so dangerous, not bodily however mentally afterwards, however it crawls again into you.
“I’ve bought to get this performed and there is just one method to do it, I’ve bought to do it.”
Eyes on channel crossing
The 62-year-old stated he would return to the UK subsequent month to finish the North Channel crossing — a 35-kilometre stretch between Northern Eire and Scotland which takes about 12 hours to swim.
He thought of giving up on the objective however the nagging drive to finish the seven returned.
“I’ve bought this final one to do,” he stated.
“I am not a youngster anymore, so I suppose I’ve bought to, at some stage, put a line within the sand and say ‘sufficient is sufficient’.
“However I am fairly assured that I can do it this time.”
If profitable, he would be the third Australian to finish the Ocean Seven.
Dr Junk, who has battled coronary heart issues and a stroke, stated he educated 5 days per week at Greens Pool, on WA’s south coast, the place water temperatures virtually matched these of the Irish Sea.
Dr Junk helped rescue three males and recovered a fourth man’s physique on the vacationer hotspot in March final yr, an effort recognised with a bravery award in Might.
He swims 5.5km for coaching in only a pair of swimming briefs and a cap.
No wetsuits are permitted within the unwritten guidelines of the Ocean Seven.
“You’re allowed to put on a swimming cap, and a pair of goggles, and Speedos, that is it,” he stated.
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